The Forgotten Ranger
by NobodyCared
Summary: A mysterious man by the name of Logan, has some tricks up his sleeve for getting what he desires. Control of Araluen. This is the story of Logan, and how his adventure plays out.


Concealed under the shadows of Castle Araluen, was a mysterious hooded figure who leaped from shadow to shadow undetected, somehow masking his noise with mother nature's own. He wore mostly black, obviously for camouflage, the majority of his weapons were concealed under the cloak he wore, the only thing that you would notice if you could see him, was the longbow that was sheathed over his shoulder. He wore fingerless gloves along with two blades sheathed on his belt, one was longer than the other, practically mocking a sword. The details of his face are unclear, as he wears a mask underneath the hood, concealing his identity. He scanned around cautiously, searching for any guards that might be patrolling the area. Lucky for him, there weren't any in sight, at least not for now. He placed his hand on the wall in front of him, glancing up at a window that lay above. Without any hesitation, the figure swiftly sneaked up the wall, using any crack, bump or brick he could use to lead himself into the window. There wasn't any normal person could do something like this, the skill is practically on par to that of a ranger, but not quite. He grasped hold of the window's sill, and peeked his head up to see if anybody was inside. Sure enough, there wasn't, he had known there wouldn't be anybody. "It's always smart to be cautious," he repeated the words from his master inside his head. He reached inside his cloak, pulling out a mysterious tool, next, he slid it under the window, attempting his best not to make too much noise. He slid the window open after breaking the lock that restricted him from entering, crawling inside the room that was visible only by the moon's light. There were people chatting in the other rooms of course, it was the famous Castle Araluen after all, it's the castle that never sleeps as some have so called it. The figure then set to work, searching around the room, opening drawers, looking under objects, opening cabinets. Clearly, he was searching for something, something that he required.

"Damn it," he muttered under his breath.

"Should have known it wouldn't be this easy."

With that being said, he crept over towards the door, peeking inside the keyhole, making sure nobody was around to arouse suspicion. He creaked open the door, scanning his head from each side of the hallway in front of him. He then took a deep breath, thinking about the mission over and over in his mind, the cloaked figure then crept through the hallway, using the shadows as his cover. Searching keyhole through keyhole, none of which, were successful.

"There's too many doors in this damn place," he complained to himself.

He stopped shortly after making that remark, because footsteps became audible to him, and they were most certainly heading down this hallway. He wasn't in the least bit surprised from the sudden footsteps, actually, he expected them to occur at some point, he leaped further into the shadows, planning to just let the fool walk past him. But, there was one thing he certainly didn't expect. It was a ranger. No, not a ranger. An apprentice ranger. Halt O'Carrick to be exact. 'What in the devil is this runt doing here?' he thought mockingly. Halt walked on by, not even noticing the figure's presence. The footsteps of Halt died down eventually, after waiting a few minutes, the hooded figure decided that it was safe to continue his search.

Eventually, the hooded man found what he had been searching for, King Oswald's headquarters. He glared at the sign that read; "King's Headquarters" for a slight moment.

"King Oswald.." he muttered.

"At long last you'll get what's coming to you,"

"Such a worthless piece of garbage."

Most people were arrested for insulting the king, even executed in some cases, but here we have this hooded figure, who mocked the king like it was nothing.

"It's about time somebody put you in your place, scum."

After he made that comment, the figure slowly opened the door that lead into the King's headquarters. Inside, was as you would expect the king, his face was opposite from the hooded man's. He stared down at the papers on his desk, moving the pen rapidly. Being a King was definitely hard work. He was drinking a bottle of wine, which didn't surprise the figure at all. 'Ah, Oswald, still the alcoholic I remember.' The figure got bored of staring at him, and decided to give him a little scare.

"Miss me, Oswald?" he said behind his back.

The sudden voice cause the startled king to jump. He glanced back in surprise and shock.

"What the-?!"

His eyes widened as the figure before him became apparent.

"Logan?!" he yelled.

Logan removed the mask that covered his face, revealing the evil smirk that lay underneath.

Oswald tried to reach for the alarm bell, but was cut off by Logan.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you,"

Astonishingly, Logan was right in front of Oswald, with a blade wielded inches from Oswald's neck.

"You pull that alarm, your blood splatters on the floor." Logan threatened.

Oswald backed away after that threat.

"What do you want for me?" he gave in, obviously knowing there wasn't any options left on the table.

"Don't play dumb old man," Logan mocked.

"You know exactly what I want from you."

Oswald grunted in anger after hearing that.

"There's know way I could give that to you!" he protested.

"You're not worthy of the power it holds!"

"I don't think you understand who's in charge here," Logan replied calmly, closing the gap between the knife and Oswald's neck.

"You do know what will happen to you if you disobey my wishes, right?"

"You wouldn't do it anyway," Oswald argued.

"I'm the only one that could give it to you!"

Logan's face raised into a smirk once again.

"You think that?"

Oswald hesitated, Logan was always a smooth liar, he couldn't always tell when he was bluffing or not.

"Alright then, if you want cough it up, I'll go on a murdering spree. Killing guards, innocents, and even knights if I have to. Not to mention, this includes you too Oswald. So let me hear it, are you going to hand it over? Or am I going to have to slaughter your kingdom?"

Oswald once again hesitated, 'Could he really do something so cruel and inhumane?' the answer "yes" circled around his mind after that question. There was no telling what Logan actually planned. Oswald had a tough decision to make, he either sacrificed himself and dozens of other innocents, or he sacrificed his battle plans to Logan. There's no telling what Logan plans to do with the plans. Maybe sell them to some foreign country, or use them against Araluen with some sort of invasion. Like he mentioned before, Logan is one of the most unpredictable beings out there. Oswald has made up his mind though, Logan won't be able to outrun the royal military for long. He'll be arrested and executed. He won't be able to escape Araluen alive.

"Alright, you win Logan." he said with fake disgust.

"I'll give you the forsaken plans."

Logan still held the knife to Oswald's neck as he pretended to get the plans. What happened next, took Logan by surprise. Oswald shoved Logan into a nearby desk, causing it to collapse. The glass from the mirror that was once there shattered all over the floor, and debris from the wood bathed the room. Logan growled in fury. And charged after Oswald, his blade wielded. But, before he could do anything. Oswald pulled the alarm, alerting the entire castle and all guards on duty.

"You old bastard!" Logan shouted as he attacked Oswald.

He stabbed Oswald right in his chest, the impact of the blow made Oswald's old body turn lifeless instantly on impact. 'I make it this far, only to fail?!' a bunch of negative and furious thoughts raced around Logan's mind. But he realized, that getting out of Castle Araluen was more important right now. The hallway from which he had come from was definitely not an option now, the royal guards are definitely swarming it by now. Logan picked up a table leg that was nearby from the broken desk and smashed open the window. It was a long way down, but there wasn't any time. He rushed down the tower, using whatever he could to climb down. The sound of cries and screams filled the whole district, along with the shouts of commands and rapid footsteps. He reached the ground, heading for any possible exit. The confusion created the perfect cover for Logan. There were dozens of people running around not having the slightest idea of what was even happening. He escaped out of the castle along with other people who were fleeing out of fear.

Logan spit on the ground. "I have failed.." he admitted.

"But now at least, Araluen is left without a leader,"

"So I suppose this mission wasn't a total failure."

"But it definitely didn't go as planned."

"Morgarath, don't you worry,"

"Araluen will soon be under your control." he added with an evil smirk, once again.


End file.
